A show amp with muscle!

This one started with a cabinet. This cabinet was painted for me about 2 or 3 years ago by my friend Michael Charvel and "added to" by my other buddy Cliff Portis here in San Marcos, TX. The art was stunning! It took me a long time to decide what sort of amp to built for a box this cool. I decided since the box looked like a custom bike or hot rod, the amp should be an American-style rock amp!

Y'know how Fender made the Tweed Bassman. Then they quit makin it. Then some dudes in England started makin 'em. And tweakin 'em. And they turned into the greatest rock amp ever.

I wondered, "what would it be like if the American dudes kept messin with the Bassman to make it a great rock guitar amp?" "And what if there was a high-gain version with gain and master volume controls?"

So, imagine a Plexi-style amp and a M-type Master Model/JCM800. The two best rock amps ever. In one amp. And you can switch between them. Now imagine an American dude came up with that. Yeah! Now we're talkin'!

I started with the same Plexi/Bassman circuit in some of my other amps. Then I added the "channel" swiching. It's not really like two channels, more like one channel with a clean and dirty mode.

In clean mode, you have a cleanVolume control, no master volume, and it's sweet and clean up to about halfway up. Then it starts to overdrive a bit and really starts rockin'! With 40 watts behind it that's still quite a bit of clean volume for the average guy. It'll keep up with a drummer and stay clean.

In dirty mode you have a dirtyGain control, another gain stage kicks-in the preamp, and there's a dirtyVolume control to balance your clean and dirty volumes. Dirty is right! This thing has plenty of classic rock crunch, grind, sustain, and all the hod-rodded goodnes you expect in a good rock amp.

The "American" part comes in the choice of Fender-style power and output transformers, American-made by ClassicTone in Chicago. Also two 6L6 power tubes form the classic American-style power section. I also went with Bassman-like part values in the tonestack and generally voiced the amp with less of a "midrange-hump" and more even through the lows, mids, and highs. A fuller, thicker tone than the English amps. But still with a tight low-end that keeps the guitar from getting mushy. Downstrokes are punchy, you hear all the notes in a chord, and the highs are clear and sweet. The tone controls are very effective. The mid control has an especially wide range, from "scooped" to almost nasal. It'll make a rythym guitar fill a space or a lead guitar cut right thru a mix.

The Tone:
You probably have a good idea what to expect of the tone. The cleans are sweet and musical. The dirty has tons of crunch and sustain. The amp loves Strats as well as Les Pauls. Matter of fact, I haven't found a guitar this amp doesn't like!
I sat down with my friend Grant Mazak and we made a video talking about and demonstrating the sounds and features of this remarkable amp.
Have a listen!